Ever wonder what librarians wish for the holidays? Do visions of bookcarts dance in our heads on Christmas Eve? Well, not quite. We polled our staff to see what the ultimate gift would be for their offices and collections and here’s what they said.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound
New York at Christmas time evokes many memories but as a child it meant a visit to FAO Schwarz, the oldest toy store in the United States. When a 1911 catalog from the famed toy store landed in the Book Conservation Lab it was like an early Christmas present!
What holiday do you think of when someone mentions costumes? Halloween? But have you ever thought of a costume for the holiday season at this time of year? The 1923 Dennison’s Christmas Book by Dennison Mfg. Co. gives three suggestions for holiday costumes.
With the management of a large, ever-changing website comes the management of the individual projects that make up that website. The Smithsonian Libraries’ website is made up of many components, most of which were or are treated as smaller projects that have limited or ongoing scope. We’re in the process of testing and refining a documentation process by which our staff can propose and define additions to our site.
With holiday parties and visiting relatives, December can be hectic and nerve-wracking for all. The Smithsonian Libraries comes to the rescue with a stockpile of works to help you navigate the muddy waters of social and familial obligations! As part of the Cultural Heritage Library, the Smithsonian Libraries has digitized at least nine etiquette books from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These precursors to Emily Post, the grande dame of American etiquette who first published in 1922, give us a glimpse at the social expectations of the time and may put some of your modern day conundrums in to perspective.
This post was written by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Head Librarian Anna Brooke.
Six students from the Corcoran College of Art + Design, Art and the Book Program, visited the Hirshhorn Museum on Friday November 8. Accompanied by Assistant Professor and book maker, Kerry McAleer-Keeler, and Pat Reid, Technical Services Associate for the Corcoran Library, the students examined 23 artists’ books from the Hirshhorn Museum Library’s collection which were on display in the board room.
While the official US involvement in World War I (WWI) did not occur until April of 1917, unofficially the US volunteered military services as part of a squadron known as the Escadrille Lafayette or Escadrille Americaine, as part of the French Air Service.